Rotary engine



Patented Mar. 27, 1934 UNITED .STATES PATENT V OFFICE ROTARY ENGINE James L. Kempthorne, Maplewood, J. .l Application DecembermS, 1928, Serial No. 323,856 l 6 Claims. (o1. 12s-8) Y This inventionl relates to an engine whichv can be used as a compressor or pump or as a steamv engine` or as an internal combustion engine and to furnish a clear description it is described andr The engine dispenses with the use of cranks.

and connecting rods and comprises a cylinder in which a wobble-plate is rotatably fitted, the.

-usual Way being to mount the plate on a shaft` 'to readily transmit the power. The cylinder is also equipped with vanesr or plates which divide the cylinder. longitudinally lQ11 both sides ofthe wobble-plate to form 19111? chambers within the cylinder. Suitable inlet` and exhaust ports with `valves` therein are supplied to each chamber and operated in proper sequencev to control the admission and expulsion vof liquid into and from the chambers. l w The invention is exemplified by` they engine ""shown in the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a vertical section through the engine. Figure 2 is a top View with the centre sectionized on a plane taken on line 2-2 in Figure 1. Figure 2d `3 is an end View of the drawing and Figure 4 is Aa perspective View of the wobble-plate and the vanes. Figures 5, 6 and 7 are diagrammatic sections showing the wobble plate in the position it will occupy in making a half revolution and also showing the position of the vanes. In the drawing the cylinder is shown at 10 within the casing 11 and if the engine is Water cooled it has the space 12 for the circulation of the water. The cylinder is provided with the wobble-plate 13 that is elliptical in order to fit into the cylinder when inclined relative to the axis of the cylinder and which is rotatably arranged in the cylinder. To make a seal I usually employ the piston rings 14 and lubrication may be accomplished through the feed 15. Bearing on the wobble-plate and arranged in a plane parallel to the axis of the cylinder are the plates or vanes 16 which divide the cylinder so that, with the wobble-plate, four chambers are provided with constantly changing capaci- ""'f ties, as the wobble-plate revolves. 'I'he ends of the cylinder are cone-shaped as at 10a to allow a maximum of compression when the wobbleplate, in lieu of a piston, is rotated to positions at the most acute angle to the vanes.

The wobble-plate is shown secured to the shaft 17 in the centre of the cylinder and by this means power can be transmitted and received. The sealing strips 18 rock in the ends of the vanes and conform to the various angles that the surfaces of the wobble-plate .assume in a vertical direction vand the vanes swing' around in the casing 11 to `conform tothe horizontal movement necessary to `follow the wobble-plate. The vanes can rotate gon-the balls 19 which are 60 held in suitable retainers. Itwill be evident that the wobble-plate, thev vanes, the sealing strips and the walls 'of the cylinder formtight joints and the'four chambers thus provided are sealed one from the other. I

The cylinder walls, the edge of the' wobbleplate, the .seal-ing strips .and the vanes co-operate to form four leakproof chambers. TheA wobbleplate engagesA the walls vof the cylinder around:

the whole. circumference or outer edge of the'()l plate. AAs-.thefitting ofthe edge. of the wobbleplate is tight against the wall the closure is thus insuredat the edgeof the wobble-plate Where it passes through between the'strips 18. In other Words the wobble-plate acts as a tight closure against the `side Walls ofthe cylinder. This will be apparent from the part broken away in Figure 2 showing the contact between the wobbleplate and the cylinder Wall at the portion between the sealing strips.

In using the engine as an internal combustion engine I provide an inlet valve 20 for each chamber, thus making four valves at each end of the engine. The inlet valves are cf any desired type and I show the spring closed valves operated by the cams 22 on the gears 23 which are operated from the pinion 24 on the engine shaft. These inlet valves are connected by the connections 25a to a manifold or other fuel supply. The exhaust valves 25, one for each chamber, are similarly operated by cam surfaces 26 and are connected by pipes 27 to an exhaust or muler. Various other forms of operating devices for the valves can be used so long as the propery sequence of their opening and closing movements is observed. f

The wobble-plate is shown at an angle of 45 degrees in the cylinder as the cylinder is of a length equal to its diameter but a different angle can be used in case a longer or shorter cylinder is used to co-operate with the cylinder ends i.

to accomplish the same purposes as does a piston by its strokes.

As seen in Figures 5, 6 and 7 the wobble plate in making one half revolution causes the vanes to conform to its angular and then to its upright i position, assuming a central sectional point as the point of observation.

The engine as shown is equivalent to a fourcycleA engine. The positions at a and b being those, for instance, when the exhaust is completed as at a and the compression is completed as at b and similarly, the large chamber at c is one in which the explosion has just taken place and its power stroke is complete and d, is one in which the suction of fuel has just been completed and4 compression is about to begin. In other words the rotation of the wobble plate transmits its motion to the shaft and it also presents an inclined tilted surface to the explosive mixture. The decrease in the size of the l:chambers expels the gases when the cycle of rotation causes the wobble plate to approach the conical end of the cylinder.

The vanes which are arranged parallel with the axis of the cylinder and slide and turn in Suitable spark plugs 28 are installed 'with the usual timing and ignition mechanism to explode the mixture at the proper time.

While the engine isishown as an internal com bustion engine it can also `Abe used as a steam engine 'or driven to form a compressor and stillcome within the terms of this 'description so long as the rotatable wobble-plate and dividing vanesV lare used in a cylinder.

1. An engine 'comprising a cylinder, -av wobbleplate rotatably supported in the cylinder, `and vanes movable only in a plane parallel "to the :axis ofY the cylinder; and moved 'bythe plate 'and dividing the Cylinder vlongitu'ii'i'rlally and Va. Shaft on which the wobble plate is secured.

l2. An VengineV comprising a cylinder, `va shaft in the cylinder, 'a wobble-plate onfthe 'shaft and tting the cylinder, and varies installed -So as to divide the cylinder longitudinally, said 'va'nes being movable in a plane parallel to the axis' of the cylinder and a shaft in which the wobble plate is secured.

3. An engine comprising a cylinder, a shaft, a wobble plate on the shaft and tting the cylinder, vanes dividing the cylinder longitudinally to form compartments, means for supporting the vanes so that they can move with the movement of the wobble plate but held against rotation around the axis of the cylinder, and inlet and exhaust valves for each compartment formed by the plate and the vanes.

. e. An engine comprising a cylinder, a wobblevplate rotatably supported in the cylinder and Ytl'ling the cylinder, and means accommodating itself to the movement of the wobble-plate and arranged so asl to divide the cylinder into halves said vanes being'movable only in a plane parallel with the axis of the cylinder whereby with the wobble-plate it forms four chambers, and inlet 'and exhaust ports in the cylinder vand communicating with their'1 respective cliarnbers.

5. An engine comprising a cylinder, a wabbl'eplate fitting the cylinder, Aa shaft o'n which the plate is secured, van'es mounted in the cylinder and xed against any movement 4other than a sliding Vmovement in a pl'ane' parallel with the axis of lthe .cylinder 'and dividing it longitudinally and accommodating themselves to the movements of' the plate, inlet and exhaust ports to each 165 chamber so formed, valves for closing iand'o'pe'ning the 'said ports, and means 'operated Afrom the shat -for 'o'p'f'erat'i'ng the valves in pr'opersequence.

6. In an engine, a Jcasing rhaving a cylindrical l chamber therein, Va wobble plate rotatable in the 1f@ cylinder, vand sli'd'aole varies dividing the chamber in 'a plane parallel Vwith the axis of rotation of the plate the va'nes being movable vonly Ain fa plane parallel with the axisof the cylindrical chamber and a shaft von which vthe wobble plate is mounted. 115

`JAlVI-EIS L. KEMPTHORNE- 

